Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1887-09-07

humble, but you can, by your faith in God
and your cheerfulness of demeanor, gild il
with splendors such as an upholsterer's hand
never yet kindled. There are abodes in the
city-humble, two-stories /; four plain, un-
papered rooms; undesirable neighborhood;
and yet there is man here this morning
who would die on that threshold rath-
er than surrender it. Why 1t is home.
| Whenever he thinks of it he sees angels of
God lowering around it. The ladders OF
| heaven are let down to that house. Over
the child's rough crib there are the chant
ings of angels as those that broke over
Bethlehem. 1t is home. These children
may como up after awhile, and they may
win high positions, and they may have an
affluent residence; but they will not until
their dying day forget that humble roof
under which their father rested and their
mother sang, and their sisters played. O.,
if you would gather up all tender memories,
all the lights and shades Of the heart, all
banqueting and reunions, all filial, frater-
nal, paternal and coDjugal affections, and
you had only just four letters with
which to spell out that height and depth,
and length and breadth. and magnitude,
and eternity of meaning, you would with
streaming eyes and trembling voice, and
agitated.hand, writeit in those four living
capitals, HOME.
What right does woman want that is
grander than to be queen in such realm !?
Why, the eagles of heaven cannot fly across
that dominion. Horses, painting and with
lathered fanks, are not swift enough to run
to the outpost ofthat realm. They say that
the sun never sets upon the English empire,
bnt 1 have to tell you that on this realm of
woman's influence, eternity never marks
any bound. Isabella fled from the Spanish
throne, pursued by the nations anathema;
but she who IS queen in home will never
lose her throne, and. death itself will only
be the annexation Of heavenly principali-
ties.
When you want to get your grandest idea
OF queen, you do not think of Catharine
of Rnssia, or of Anne of England, or Marie
Theresa of Germany; but when you want to
get your grandest idea ola queen you think
of the plain woman who sat opposite your
father at the table, or walked with him
Earm-in-arm down life's pathway-some-
times to the thanksgiving banquet, some
times to the grave, but always together-
soothing your petty griefs, correcting your
childish waywardness, joining in your in
fantile sports, listening to your evening
prayers toiling for you with needle or at
the spinning Wheel and on cold nights
wrapping you up snug and warm. And
then at last on that day when she lay in the
back room dying and you saw her take those
thin hands with which she toiled for you SO
long, and put them together in a dying
prayer that commended you to the God
whom she had taught you to trust-O, she
was. the queen! The chariots of God came
down to fetch her; and as she went in all
heaven rose up. You cannot think of her
now without rush of tenderness that stirs
the deep foundations of your soul, and you
feel as much child again as when you cried
on her lap; and if you could bring her back
again to speak just once more your name,
as tenderly as she used to speak it, you
would be willing to throw yourself on the
ground and kiss the sod that covers her.
crying s'Mother, mother!'' ''Ah! she was
the queen-she was the queen. Now, can
you tell me how many thousand miles a
woman like that would have to travel down
before she got to the ballot-box i? Com
pared with this work Of training kings and
queens for God and eternity, how insignifi-
cant seems all this work of voting for alder
men and common councilmen, and sheriffs
and constables, and mayors, and presidents.
To make one such grand woman as / have
described how many thousands would you
want of those people who go in the round
of godlessness, and fashion, and dissipation,
distorting their bodies until in their mon
strosities they seem to outdo the dromedary
and hippopotamus! going as far toward dis
graceful apparel as they dare go, so as not
to be arrested by the police-their behavior
a sorrow to the good and caricature of the
vicious, and an insult to that God who made
them women and not gorgons; and tramp
ling On, down through frivolous and dissi-
pated life to temporal and eternal damna-
ton.
O, woman, with the lightning of your
soul, strike dead at your feet all these allure
ments to dissipation and to fashion. Your
immortal soul cannot be fed upon such gar
bage. God calls you up to empire and do
minion. Will you have it? O, give to
God your heart; give to God your best en-
ergies; give to God all your culture; give to
G cd all your refinement; give yourself to
Him, for this world and the next. Soon all
th ese bright eyes will be quenched, and
these voices will be hushed. For the last
time you will look upon this fair earth
Fathers hand, mothers hand sisters
hand, child's hand will be no more in yours.
It will be night, and there will come up a
cold wind from the Jordan, and you must
start. Will it be lone woman on atrack-
less moor? All! no, Jesus will come up in
that hour and offer His hand, and He will
say, "You stood by Me when you were well;
now 1 will not desert you when you are
sick" One wave of His hand and the storm
will drop; and another wave of His hand,
and midnight Shall break into midnoon;
and another wave of His hand, and the
chamberlains of God will come down from
the treasure-houses of heaven with robes
lustrous, blood washed and heaven -glinted,
in which you will array yourself for the
marriage supper Of the Lamb. And then
with Miriam, who struck the tipbrel of the
Red Sea, and with Deborah, who led the
Lords host into the fight; and with Hap-
nah, who gave her Samuel to The Lord; and
with Mary, who rocked Jesus to sleep while
there were angels singing in the Fair; and
with Florence Nightingale, who bound up
the battle-wounds of the Crimea, you will,
from the chalice Of God, drink to the SOULS
eternal rescue.
One twilight, after I had been playing
with the children for some time, laid dow
on the lounge to rest. The children said
play more. The children always want to
play more. And half asleep aad half awake,
l seemed to dream this dream: 1t seemed
to me that was in far-distant land-not
Persia, although more than Oriental luxuri-
ance crowned the cities; nor the tropics, al
though more than tropical fruitfulness filed
the gardens; nor Italy, although more than
Italian softness filled the air. And I wan
dered around, Hooking for thorns and nettles,
but I found none of them grew there. And
1 walked forth and I saw the sun rise, and
1 said: "When will it set again?" and the
sun sank not. And l saw all the people in
holiday apparel, and said: ''When will
they put on workingman's garb again, and
delve in the mine, and swelter at the forge?"
but neither the garments nor the robes did
they put off. And wandered in the SUBJ
urbs, and said: "Where do they bury the
dead of this great city," and looked along
by the hills where il would be most beauti-
full for the dead to sleep, and saw castles,
and towns, and battlements; but not a
mausoleum, nor monument, nor white slab
could l see. And went into the great
chapel of the town, and l said: "Where do
the poor worship? where are the benches on
which they sit ?' and voice answered:
stWe have no Door In this great city" And